Briar Rose
by Lindira
Summary: Nightmares plague Aeric and Dorian both. A metal chamber, a blue and yellow jumpsuit. A vault. A rude awakening when a dream is not just a dream.


A/N: This is the "origin story" for my Fallout AU, as part of my oneshot series "Never Changes". Note: anything about computers or machinery of any kind is totally fictional.

* * *

"Briar Rose"

ooo

 _Trapped… Fluorescent lights, blinking machines… Where am I? Too much metal and plastic and glass around me… Let me out! You can't lock me in here! Let me go…_

Aeric woke, stretching and feeling disoriented. He had been having strange dreams for the past several nights, dreams he could not remember but left him with a heavy foreboding. No matter what he did to try to shake it, the feeling lingered with him until well into the morning.

As he rubbed his bleary eyes, Aeric heard some splashing coming from the bath in the other room. A warm and light feeling fluttered in his chest, a contentment that had graced nearly every morning since Dorian had moved in. It was early, pale sunlight only just peeking over the horizon. _Perhaps I can get some baking done_ , Aeric thought and got to his feet, heading towards the bath.

"Good morning, _amatus_ ," Dorian greeted without looking up. He was reading in the bath again, lounging back in the tub with his feet propped up on the rim.

"Morning, _ma'nehn_ ," Aeric yawned. He bent to splash water on his face from the basin nearby.

"I thought you were going to sleep in today," Dorian said, the water swishing as he shifted. "You haven't been getting enough rest lately." He finally looked up from his book and frowned. "Bad dreams again?"

Aeric patted at his face with a towel and nodded. "What about you? It's early for you too, isn't it?"

Dorian shrugged. "I've been a mite unsettled myself. I wake feeling… claustrophobic."

It was strange, but Aeric knew exactly what Dorian meant. He had been waking up feeling like that for days now.

A puff of smoke materialized at the edge of the room, making Aeric and Dorian jump. Cole appeared in the midst of the smoke, wringing his hands as he looked around the room. "Aeric! I need to speak with you!"

"Maker's breath, Cole!" Dorian exclaimed, wiping droplets of water from the front cover of his book. "At least have the decency to use the door."

Cole shook his head. "I couldn't. There is no door."

"Aside from the one right there?" Dorian replied, nodding towards the open doorway. "And I thought you couldn't do the poofing thing anymore."

"It's all in my head, so I can," Cole said, then frowned. "Or maybe it's all in your heads… I don't have one."

"A pity you like hats so much, then."

Aeric sighed, tossing aside his towel. "Cole, what was this urgent thing you needed to speak about?"

Wringing his hands even harder than before, Cole looked fearful and on edge. Whatever annoyance Aeric had felt with his friend's abrupt arrival was gone in an instant. "It's not real," Cole blurted out. "None of it is! I… I don't think I am either. Someone created me, and I think it was Solas…"

"Slow down," Dorian said. He set aside his book on a table next to the tub. "What are you talking about? Solas is gone."

Cole nodded. "He left, but he still watches us all."

Dorian's brow furrowed. "Well, isn't that creepy." He rose from the tub, and Aeric wordlessly handed him a towel.

"You said something wasn't real, Cole," Aeric said slowly. "What isn't?"

"Everything," Cole said, his face earnest under his wide-brimmed hat. "I tried to disconnect you the past few nights. It didn't work."

Aeric paused for a moment before answering. Cole often spoke in riddles, but this was somehow different. What he said… it didn't feel like a metaphor. "I'm not certain I understand," Aeric said finally. "Disconnect us from what?"

"Thedas!" Cole peered at the corners of the bathroom as if looking for demons in the shadows. "But you won't believe me. What Solas is doing, it isn't right. You're our friends, it's not right to keep you. But you won't believe me."

Aeric and Dorian looked at each other, concerned frowns mirrored on their faces. Aeric hadn't seen Cole this agitated since the Fade.

"As you say, Cole," Dorian said gently, "we are your friends. Tell us what's going on so we can help."

Cole's shoulders slumped. "But I already have, and you don't believe me. It's… not your fault, though."

"Cole…" Aeric murmured.

Cole shook his head. "It's all right. I was made to help you. I'll find another way." Before Aeric could say anything more, Cole backed away. With another puff of smoke, he was gone.

"Well! That's hardly the kind of encounter one expects in the bath first thing in the morning," Dorian muttered, adjusting the towel around his waist. "What do you suppose that was all about?"

"Not sure," Aeric replied slowly. "But he seemed genuinely distressed. I'll try to find him again later." Cole was always a little odd, but something in his demeanor made Aeric feel ill at ease. Coupled with the lingering sense of claustrophobia from his dreams, he wanted to rid himself of the feeling as soon as possible.

ooo

Aeric wandered Skyhold late that morning after a war table meeting with his advisors. Cole had the tendency to hide in corners of the castle, tucked in tiny alcoves or dangling his feet from the rafters. As Aeric climbed the stairs to the balcony overlooking the Great Hall, he ran into Vivienne, who seemed on her way down.

"Inquisitor," Vivienne greeted with a sniff. "Good, perhaps you can help me."

"Yes, of course," Aeric replied, though already he was puzzled. He and Vivienne had largely avoided interacting with one another, neither of them liking each other very much. After Corypheus' defeat, Vivienne said she would be returning to Val Royeaux, but for whatever reason, she had not left yet, over a month later.

"I am curious if you know where the demon might be," Vivienne said smoothly.

Aeric scowled. "Cole, you mean? For the last time, he's not a demon."

"All spirits are dangerous, my dear, even the ones that appear benevolent." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Though I notice that you have not answered my question."

"Through no disrespect, I assure you. I was only puzzled. You don't seem to like Cole."

Vivienne tapped her foot. "Someone has to keep an eye on it, especially now that the apostate is gone. As little as I trusted Solas, I trust Cole far less." Her eyes narrowed at Aeric. "Well?"

Aeric sighed. "I don't know where he is, Vivienne. I'm looking for him myself, actually. If I find him, I'll be sure to let you know."

"See that you do." With that, Vivienne swept past him down the stairs and into the gathering of nobles in the Great Hall below.

With a roll of his eyes, Aeric turned the corner and then again towards the door to the living quarters above the garden. Perhaps he should scale the roof at the end of the landing. Cole always did like high places.

"What did you tell her?"

Aeric jumped and turned around. Crouched beside the railing, Cole looked up at him with wide eyes, his hat in his hands.

"You're startled," Cole said when Aeric didn't answer right away. "I'm sorry."

Aeric shook his head and sat beside him on the landing floor. "I didn't tell her anything, Cole. Are you hiding from her?"

"Yes… and no," Cole answered. "I am hiding from Solas, but Vivienne and Cassandra have eyes, and he can see out of them."

Aeric felt a shiver crawl up his spine. "You don't trust Cassandra as well? She's our friend."

Cole's eyes were sad beneath his mop of blond hair. "She was _made_ to be." His face fell, his eyes downcast. "Just like me."

Aeric's brow furrowed. "You said this morning that you didn't think things are real. You, the door."

Cole nodded. "Everything," he whispered.

"Me?" Aeric swallowed, a sudden hitch in his chest. "Dorian?"

Cole hesitated before answering, making Aeric anxious. "There are yous that are more you. They have shape and when you wake, you're there and not here. You sleep, not knowing you're sleeping there, and not really here." He shook his head, as if confused. "This you feels real, but less real than the ones with bodies."

"You're talking in circles, Cole." Aeric shuddered as he realized Cole hadn't exactly given him a straight answer. The idea that he himself wasn't real disturbed him less than the thought Dorian might not be. "I'm not sure I believe what you're saying. Or whether I understand. But I want to help."

Cole shook his head again. "That's backwards. You can't help me. I'm nothing. But I want to help you."

Taking a breath, Aeric tried to organize his thoughts. "So, you're saying none of this is real. How can that be? I don't understand."

"I tried to show you, but I don't think I did it right." Cole's hands twisted the brim of his hat, wringing it instead of each other. "Your minds wanted to come back."

Aeric frowned. "Show me again."

"Not here," Cole said, his eyes darting in all directions. "Your quarters. He doesn't like watching you there."

Another shiver went up Aeric's spine. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Cole nodded and vanished with telltale smoke.

Alone with his thoughts, Aeric remained seated for a moment, leaning his head back against the stone railing. What Cole was saying, it was absurd. But then… why did it ring so true? The stone behind his head felt real. The air was full of scents from the garden: pine and jasmine and his sister's embrium… And the other night - the taste of the spices in the _conditi agni_ he made again for Dorian, the sounds of their lovemaking afterwards… Weren't they real? How could they not be?

And yet…

Aeric got to his feet and hurried to his quarters. Despite the anxious foreboding in the pit of his stomach, he had to get to the bottom of this. He always did value what was true, no matter how difficult a truth it may be.

ooo

When Aeric arrived in his quarters, Cole was already there, perched atop the railing of the upstairs loft. His feet dangled and kicked, and when he spotted Aeric, he jumped down, landing lightly on his feet. "You're here!"

"I am," Aeric replied, giving Cole a questioning look, waiting for instructions.

Understanding without words, Cole pointed to the couch. "Sitting would be best," he said. "If you don't, you will think you fell, which would hurt just as badly."

Aeric sat and looked up at Cole. "What will you do to me? Magic?"

Cole frowned. "Magic isn't real."

"What is, then?"

"Waking. Hurting." Cole bowed his head, the wide brim of his hat casting his face in shadow. "I'm sorry. I have to hurt to help. I don't want to, but this is the only way to show you."

Aeric reached out and squeezed Cole's arm. "It's all right. I… I'm ready."

The spirit shook his head. "Probably not."

Aeric had expected for Cole to touch him, or weave something into the air. A flash of light, another puff of smoke. Instead, Cole lowered his head even further until he stared at the floor, his hat obscuring his face completely. He was silent and still, for long enough that Aeric wondered if he should say something.

At last, Cole spoke, and when he did, his voice sounded odd, emotionless. "Please stand by…" he droned. "Processing…"

"Cole?" Aeric said gently, brow furrowing.

Cole didn't respond, speaking as if to no one in particular. "Disconnect protocol engaged. Severing connection to Thedas simulation in five… four… three… two… one…"

Aeric's eyes shot open.

As he woke, Aeric gasped, seized with fear. _Where am I? Where am I?_ Metal surrounded him in a giant capsule, a tiny window above him the only view to the outside. A plastic mask for breathing covered his mouth and nose _… Plastic?_ He knew the word, but not why or how. He reclined almost completely horizontal on a cushioned chair within the capsule, lights flashing, a rhythmic beeping noise emanating from the contraptions before him, covered in dials and buttons. More words, more concepts that he knew without knowing. _How?_

Aeric's eyes were wild, panic rising within him. This was the place from his dream. Enclosed. Trapped. Aeric raised his voice, tried to scream, but nothing came out. No voice, unused. For how long? Aeric knew - from his childhood, from being rescued from slavers, broken and silent - that he must not have spoken in a very long time for his voice not to work like this. _Calm down, don't panic…_ he told himself.

A light shock went through him, making his muscles seize, just a little. Aeric looked down at himself. He was dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a yellow '58' on the left side of his chest. Tiny plastic tubes snaked beneath his clothing, connected to the strange machines. He could feel the intrusions in his skin, the IV needles in his arm. _IV?_ He could feel the little things that shocked his muscles as well, attached to his arms, his legs, his back. Everywhere.

 _Where am I?_

Aeric couldn't remember entering the capsule, or the room beyond. How did he get here? What was this place? _Calm down,_ he told himself again. _It isn't real… just a dream, just a dream…_

Doubt spiked through him. The words scrambling through his mind… He didn't believe them.

Pushing down as much of his fear as possible, mustering as much strength as his muscles could give him, Aeric struggled to sit up. After several tries, he reached the window and peered out.

More capsules… pods… whatever they were. Were there others inside them as well? In the capsule beside him, he could just barely see a face, a dark-haired woman with a hooked nose, just visible beyond the plastic breathing mask. Aeric gasped, falling back into his chair. "Josephine!" His mouth formed her name, but no sound came out. His heart thumped wildly again, terror gripping him like a vice.

 _Where's Dorian?_

But Aeric could feel himself getting drowsy again, his already heavy limbs becoming dead weights. He slumped in the chair, the beeping of the machines growing more distant, the twitch of his muscles seeming to belong to another man in another time. Perhaps it did.

As his eyes began to flutter closed, the only things left to him were his sluggish thoughts. _Let me out… I need to find Dorian… I don't want to be here… Please, let me out…_

Aeric's eyes opened, blinking as they adjusted to the shimmering sunlight filtered through stained glass. Relief flooded him when he realized where he was. Back in his quarters. Safe. Free. …Wasn't he?

Aeric took a shuddering breath, bending over to bury his face in his hands. Cole stood above him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Where in the Void was that?" Aeric said in a hoarse voice. For once, he was grateful that he could speak.

"The Wasteland," Cole replied solemnly, his voice no longer empty.

Aeric nodded. The name seemed fitting, from what little he saw of it. "And you're telling me that the place I saw…" He shuddered again. " _That's_ the real world?"

"Yes."

"That… that's not possible." Aeric shook his head. "I was trapped. I could hardly move. Surely that must have been a nightmare."

Cole cocked his head to one side. "Perhaps it _was_ a nightmare. That doesn't mean it's not real."

Aeric didn't answer. This world, Thedas, this was what felt real. But the terror he felt, the medicinal smell of the air pumped into his gas mask, the blinking lights, the feel of his muscles twitching to keep them from atrophying… As much as he didn't want them to, they also felt too real to ignore.

And what of the strange words that filled his mind without thought? 'Plastic' and 'IV' and 'jumpsuit'. Another word came to mind. He hadn't thought it while he was there, but the word came readily to his mind now. "A vault," Aeric murmured. "I… I feel as if I'd seen places like that before."

"Yes," Cole intoned. "It is one of many."

It was too much to take in, and the sense of foreboding from this morning was back again, taking Aeric full force. The life he had built for himself here was a good one. He was happy - truly happy. How could none of it be real?

"I saw Josephine there," he said at last. "My friends… they're also being held there against their will, aren't they?"

"Most of them, yes."

"And Dorian?"

Cole paused. "He feels like you do. Like most of the others. He must be there, with a body."

Still another shudder. Aeric's chest seized painfully at the thought of Dorian trapped in a pod like the one in which he had found himself. If that world was real, then Dorian and his friends were being held prisoner. And if that were true, Aeric had to help them. Though he didn't know how.

A fire burst from the hearth out of nothing. Outside, a fierce wind howled, piercing the previously calm day.

"We've been discovered," Cole whispered.

Aeric glanced from the hearth to the snow outside, picked up from the mountains by the wind. "What? By whom?"

"Solas." Cole looked down at Aeric with panic in his eyes. "You must leave. I'll send you back through."

"I'm not going anywhere without Dorian," Aeric replied vehemently. "How can I get him out? Just disconnect him from the other side?"

"It has to be from this side," Cole said, pulling Aeric to his feet and rushing him towards the stairs. "I did it wrong before. The mind _wants_ to come back. He has to go willingly."

"Then I know where to find him." Aeric threw open the door. "Where can I find you when I have Dorian?"

"The Undercroft," Cole said, turning away. "Watch for Cassandra and Vivienne. Leliana and the soldiers too. They are his eyes."

Aeric swallowed and nodded before rushing down the long flights of stairs down from his tower. Though still unsure whether he fully believed that none of this was real, he knew they were in danger. Real or no, Aeric had to reach Dorian. He had to save them both.

ooo

Dorian reclined in his chair in the library, helping Helisma with her demonology research. Though not entirely his area of expertise, he was glad for the distraction. Aeric hadn't met him for lunch as they had planned. It wasn't the first time Aeric had had to cancel plans due to one Inquisition matter or another, but usually Aeric sent a messenger to inform Dorian not to wait. Instead, today, Dorian lingered in the dining hall for over an hour, waiting for the elf who never showed. Though he knew Aeric probably had a good reason, that didn't stop him from being irritated.

Outside, the wind shook the trees and rattled the shutters of the tavern across the way. Dorian couldn't help but think it fitting for his mood.

As he reached a particularly gruesome paragraph about Arcane Horrors, he heard a familiar rhythm of footsteps at the stairs. He schooled his face into as nonchalant an expression as he could manage.

Aeric turned the corner to the alcove, stopping just before Dorian's chair. " _Ma'nehn,_ " the elf said, a tad breathlessly. "You have to come with me."

"Do I?" Dorian replied airily. "Is that what the almighty Inquisitor dictates?"

"Don't do this now," Aeric snapped, scowling. "We really don't have time for this."

Dorian raised an eyebrow. "No time for what? Talking? Was there no time for eating earlier as well?"

"You're going on about _lunch_?" Aeric said, his tone incredulous. "Dorian, please, just-"

"Is everything all right?"

Dorian and Aeric both looked up to see Cassandra standing just at the mouth of the alcove, her brow furrowed, arms crossed in front of her. Dorian saw Aeric grow still at the sight of her. His _amatus_ looked like a cornered cat; if the elf had hackles, they would be raised.

Confused, Dorian adopted a smile and addressed the Seeker. "Oh, you know how it is, Cassandra. Lovers' spat. About lunch or lack thereof, I believe, though sometimes it's difficult to tell."

Cassandra didn't smile in return. Instead, her eyes narrowed at Aeric, who glared back at her. What was going on? They were friends. Good ones. Did they have a fight?

Aeric reached down and took Dorian's hand firmly. "Get ready to run," he whispered.

"Wait, what?"

Aeric launched himself at Cassandra, Dorian still in hand. The two of them bowled her over, Dorian stumbling to keep up, as they rushed by to reach the stairs. Soldiers, whose approach Dorian had not heard, stood before them halfway down the steps, stopping them in their tracks. Aeric yanked Dorian back up the stairs. They came around one side of the library, running towards the staircase that led to the upper floor.

"Aeric, stop!" Dorian yelled. "What's going on?"

Aeric wasn't paying attention, freezing again when he spotted his spymaster. "Fuck, I forgot about Leliana," he muttered.

Cassandra was coming up the stairs behind them, shouting orders to the soldiers to follow. "Detain the Inquisitor! Take him alive if you can!" She held a sword at the ready, one she hadn't had when they saw her just seconds ago.

"What did you do?!" Dorian shouted.

Still, Aeric didn't answer. Instead, he took one glance around at the approaching soldiers and Cassandra on one side, and at Leliana on the other. His grip on Dorian tightened. "You trust me?"

"Yes, but-"

"Jump!" Aeric threw himself toward the railing, Dorian unwittingly following after.

" _Fasta vass!_ " Dorian managed to scream before they landed two stories below, just beside the desk that had once belonged to Solas. Dorian had expected the fall to break a limb or two, but they both landed on their hands and feet with no pain but the shock of having fallen. "Maker, how-"

But Aeric was pulling him along again, out the doors toward the Great Hall. All the nobles turned their heads toward them at once, suddenly silent. Flames from the fireplace clawed the air, as Varric stood by, looking bewildered. "Inquisitor?"

"I'm sorry, Varric," Aeric whispered as they ran past, shoving aside the nobles before them. The masked Orlesians grabbed at their clothing, pulling and grasping. A shiver of panic spiked through Dorian. He and Aeric pried the nobles' hands from their robes and pushed back on their way towards the Undercroft. As soon as they reached the door, Aeric erected a shield with his Mark, keeping the nobles at bay as the two of them squeezed inside.

Aeric slammed the door behind them, bolting it shut. The Undercroft was strangely empty, Dagna and Harritt both gone. Dorian whirled around to face Aeric, anger overcoming his shock now. "What the fuck was all of that about?!" he shouted.

"I don't think there's much time to explain," Aeric said, the hard edges of his face softening. He started pushing a heavy crate in front of the door. Dorian went to help. "Cole was right. He was right about everything. We're prisoners here, _ma'nehn_. None of this is real."

"What isn't real? The _world_?" Dorian watched Aeric's face, his blood running cold as he saw the fear in his lover's eyes and realized that he was terrified. "Aeric, that's absurd. You know better than to believe that nonsense."

Aeric shook his head, giving the crate a final shove to block the door. "I know it's absurd, but I believe it's the truth. You saw the nobles out there! The soldiers appearing at the staircase! That fall should have crippled us both, Dorian, but we haven't a scratch!"

Dorian frowned. "Yes, I know, but… How can none of this be real? That's…"

"I saw the real world," Aeric said, hands clasping both of Dorian's shoulders. "The place we've both been going in our nightmares… they weren't dreams! We were _waking up_!"

Staring openmouthed at Aeric, Dorian found he had no words to say. Had Aeric gone mad? But he was scared - truly, utterly frightened. Dorian had only seen Aeric like this once before at Adamant. Whatever had him so afraid, he believed it. Aeric believed it all. "Please, _amatus_ ," Dorian pleaded. "Listen to reason. You're saying that all of Thedas is a lie? How can that be? It's impossible."

Aeric crushed his lips to Dorian's, a kiss that was almost painful in its desperation. "I know this is too much to believe," Aeric murmured as their lips parted, a hairsbreadth between them. "But we're running out of time. And I'm sorry. I don't think I can stay here anymore, not after what I've seen. If Solas truly is behind this, then he knows that I know too much. If I go without you…" His voice broke at the words. "If I go alone, I don't… I'm not sure I'll ever see you again."

Dorian suppressed a shiver. "What are you talking about, you idiot?" he snapped. "Go? Go where?"

"The real world. The Wasteland."

"Oh, wonderful," Dorian said, pulling away from Aeric and throwing his hands up in frustration. "By all means, Aeric! Because 'the Wasteland' sounds like just the sort of place that's worth leaving my reasonably comfortable life!"

A puff of smoke appeared at the far end of the Undercroft, and Cole stepped out of it. "Aeric!" he called out when he spotted them. "Solas knows."

Aeric nodded and descended the steps, loping towards Cole. "What do I have to do?"

Cole stepped toward the sets of crafting apparatus along the wall of the Undercroft. "A distraction. The simulation chambers won't unlock unless it's done within the system. I can't do it myself. It's forbidden in my programming."

Dorian listened to the strange words, knowing he shouldn't understand them. And yet, they sounded familiar, almost comfortable. It felt like a fog lifting from his mind by inches. He knew the words well, once, though he didn't know why or how.

"What can we do, then?" Aeric was asking Cole. "I'm not sure I understand all that you're saying."

"The system can be overloaded," Cole told him, wringing his hands. "I will tell you how. The wind will howl more, walls will crumble, fires will burn brighter. Solas will need to fix it, but our friends… it won't hurt them."

Aeric nodded. "Good."

Cole pointed to objects on the crafting apparatus before them: one of the arms of the armor crafting station, the seat of the weapon apparatus, the strange golden nug statue, the special shipments box, a runestone on the table of the armor station. Aeric touched each of these in succession, a musical note sounding in the air as he did so. As Aeric's hand touched the runestone, Dorian saw movement from the corner of his eye. He gaped. Just in front of the waterfall, unfolding in midair, a terminal dropped down with weathered buttons and a screen that glowed with green letters.

"Maker's breath," Dorian breathed, stepping closer. He knew what this was, had words in his head for it. 'Terminal' and 'screen' and 'computer'. He shouldn't know what these things were, but he did. He watched in stunned silence as Cole instructed Aeric with strings of code that the elf typed with two fingers into the keyboard, searching for letters and numbers and jabbing at the keys. The words were a puzzle, an image of circuits coming to mind that made sense somehow. Dorian understood.

But… he shouldn't.

Choices appeared on the screen. Aeric stared at the words, frowning. "This makes no sense to me. 'Inbound path'? 'Outbound'? Which do I block?"

"Block the outbound path," Dorian said without thinking. "The energy overload should be greater at the source that way."

Aeric blinked at him, his brow rising. "How did you know that?" he asked in an awed whisper, voicing Dorian's thoughts aloud.

Dorian didn't know. Didn't want to know. "It doesn't matter. Just… make that blasted contraption do what it must."

With a few more pokes at the keyboard, Aeric entered the command. They waited.

Candles burst into long flames. Skyhold itself shook, chips of stone and mortar crumbling, but holding fast for now. The waterfall just beside them rushed in a sudden deluge, splashing them, soaking them. The spray of water went through the floating computer, as if one or the other of them wasn't there. Dorian was no longer certain which.

A crash at the door. " _Kaffas!_ " Dorian cursed under his breath. He glanced from Cole to Aeric, and when he spoke again, he had to shout over the screaming wind that rushed through the Undercroft from the outside. "I… I think they're using a battering ram!"

Cole tugged at Aeric's arm. "You must go now! While Solas repairs the damage we've done!"

Aeric nodded and turned to Dorian. "Please, _ma'nehn_!" the elf yelled over the wind. "Come with me!"

"This is insanity!" Dorian shouted back as he reached for Aeric's hand. "This can't possibly be happening! How can none of this be real?"

"Aeric," Cole was saying, ignoring Dorian's yelling. "When you get there, you should take the mask off. The air will make you sleep again. I will help you how I can."

"Understood, Cole," Aeric said, then turned back to Dorian with a plea in his ultra-blue eyes. "I can't force you to come with me." Dorian could barely hear him over the wind and the water and the shattering wood of the door. "You have to come willingly. Please! I don't want to leave you to this!"

Just beneath the howl of the wind, Cole's droning voice could be heard. "Processing… Disconnect protocol engaged."

Cold fear coiled around Dorian's spine, binding it like a rope. "Am I even real?" he shouted to Aeric, even as another crash sounded, the door splintering. One more hard hit and they would be through. His breath caught in his chest. "Are you? Are you real?"

"I swear to you that I am!" Aeric's eyes were wild, panic rising, never leaving Dorian's face. "I love you, _ma'nehn_! Please, I don't want to go alone…"

"Severing connection to Thedas simulation in five…"

"Yes, I'll go! Cole, I'm coming too!" Dorian's grip tightened on Aeric's hand. _Please be real… please be real…_

"Four… three…"

"I'll find you, Dorian." The smile on Aeric's face was forced as the elf gave Dorian's mustache a final affectionate tug. "Don't worry… I'll find you."

"Two…"

Cassandra and the soldiers burst through the door, swords raised, followed closely behind by Leliana, Vivienne, and several nobles, their masks removed. They all had the same face.

"One…"

Dorian's eyes shot open. A gasp pulled through his lungs like sand, a dry burning that seared his insides.

Surrounded by metal on almost all sides, Dorian would have thought he was in a strange coffin, if not for the dials and switches, all ablaze with blinking lights and buzzing alarms. He remembered this place from his dreams. He had shut it out from his mind, as he had with all the other nightmares that occasionally plagued him. His breath sounded hollow in his ears, muffled by the plastic mask over his face, each intake shallow and rasping. He wanted to wake up. He had to wake up. This could not be real. What had ever possessed him to come here?

 _Aeric. Where is Aeric?_

Forcing himself to calm down, Dorian pushed through the haze of his panic and confusion, finding the presence of mind to recall Cole's instructions. He tried to raise his arm, and found at first that he couldn't, his muscles stiff and uncooperative. How long had he been here? With effort, he raised his hands to his face, fingers fumbling until they pulled the plastic dome from his nose and mouth. The mask revealed a full beard on his face, disheveled and overgrown. His hands shook as he touched it, disbelieving. _Oh, sweet Maker… How long have I been here?!_

His muscles pulsed under tiny shocks of electricity. Looking down, he found himself in strange clothing, blue and yellow. The jumpsuit ballooned around his wasted muscles. He stared with curiosity at the contraption strapped to his wrist, a tiny computer complete with a screen. The words 'Pip-Boy' were embossed on the side. He ignored it for now, not knowing what it was, not caring. Not while he was still trapped, and Aeric lay somewhere outside. If he was real.

It took a long time to remove all the electrodes from his skin, his muscles feeling odd after the steady stimulation, like having just gotten off of a boat. Wincing, he pulled gently at the IV in his hand, blood spilling from the puncture site despite the pressure he had applied there. His eyes watered, but he forced himself to keep them open, letting them adjust to the dim lights flickering around him. Finally free from all the tubes and wires, he pushed at the glass enclosure, and breathed a sigh of relief to find that the hatch slid open easily.

"Aeric?" Dorian tried to shout as he poked his head out from the pod. Nothing. With one hand, he massaged his throat, trying not to let the panic return at the loss of his voice. _It'll return_ , he told himself. _Find Aeric. He must be in one of these other enclosures._

There were four other pods, arranged around a single console in the center of the room. The walls themselves were made of metal, blinking lights and faded green screens dotting the panels. Dorian heaved himself over the edge of his pod, sliding down to land unceremoniously on the hard metal floor, his legs failing to support his weight when he landed. Staggering to his feet, he gritted his teeth and hobbled to the nearest pod. He stared at the large man lying inside, beard overgrown like his own. The man's left eye was missing, the skin around the socket scarred over. Though he was human, the man's angular face was hauntingly familiar. "Bull?" Dorian's mouth formed the word, but no sound came out.

Dorian stumbled to the other enclosures. Sera, her blond hair long and tangled. Blackwall, slighter than in Thedas due to his dwindling muscles, but his beard as full as ever. The pod beside Dorian's was empty.

 _Where's Aeric?!_

Stamping down the resurgence of fear in his stomach, he returned to Sera's pod and pushed at the hatch. _Aeric's here somewhere… he must be… Must save them first…_

The screen at the center console lit up, bold green letters appearing on a black background. "DORIAN," the screen read.

Dorian approached the console slowly.

Smaller letters replaced his name on the screen. "It's me. Cole. Sorry for shouting. I needed your attention."

"Cole?" Dorian managed to say in a hoarse whisper. "Where are you?"

"You can't help them." New words appeared. "They have to be released from the inside or they'll go into shock from being pulled out so suddenly. You must hurry before Solas repairs the overload. I will attempt to waylay him further."

"Cole, where's Aeric?" Dorian could barely hear himself. Cole must not have heard either, if he could hear at all, because Dorian received no answer.

With a heavy heart, he left the other pods in search of Aeric, swearing to himself that he'd be back to save the three of them still trapped inside.

He wandered the halls of the place, still feeling closed in, surrounded by metal walls. The vault - he knew without thinking what it was - looked the same no matter what corner he turned, though he knew he wasn't traveling in circles, having turned a different way each time. Dorian found a room with a line of sinks along one wall. Filled with a sudden thirst, his hands twisted the knobs until cold water flowed, tasting odd, sterile, but soothing his throat nonetheless. He continued onward, supporting himself along the wall as his legs struggled and ached with the activity, after Maker knows how long without moving.

Some of the sections of the vault were only barely lit, his eyes struggling to see through the relative darkness. Yet when Dorian reached for a shred of mana, to cast a bit of veilfire to light the way, he found… nothing. It wasn't suppression; when templars blocked a mage's abilities, it felt like a wall blocking the well of magic within him. This was different. Searching with his mind, he could find none of it - no mana, no Veil, no Fade to draw energy from. Where was the magic? This, more than anything, made the fear surge within him. He was helpless, barely able to walk, unable to speak, and not even the most miniscule amount of magic to protect him. What kind of world was this?

Even still, he forced himself to keep going, the need to find something familiar overwhelmingly important now. Aeric… Where was Aeric? The corridors seemed interminable, and with each corner Dorian turned, the anxiety in his gut tightened still further. The emergency lights flashing and spinning overhead told him that time was passing more slowly than it seemed to him. He felt like he had been wandering for hours, but it was likely that mere minutes had passed. Surely he should have found someone by now. _What if Aeric isn't real? Cassandra… Vivienne… they weren't real…_ Empty room after empty room, and still no one. The vault seemed abandoned, no one inside except the friends he had left behind, trapped in their metal shells. And with each passing step, Dorian's doubt and fear threatened to close over him. As he slowly, achingly ascended a staircase to one of the upper floors, the idea that he might be in this strange land alone made the panic return. _He's not real, he's not real! I knew he was too bloody good to be true…_

Just as he was contemplating going back, he heard a muffled noise coming from a room he had just passed. He had dismissed the room as empty, but as he entered, it appeared to be an office of some sort, with a bare desk and filing cabinets. At the end of the office was a door, locked with a metal bar. There was a banging from the other side, someone pounding on the door to get his attention. A tiny window in the upper half of the door revealed a pair of deep blue eyes.

Dorian let out a shuddering sigh of relief. " _Amatus?_ " He pulled at a handle on the metal bar, the task difficult with his weakened muscles. Finally, the bar slid away, and Dorian threw open the door.

He gasped.

The man on the other side of the door looked almost nothing like Aeric, only his stature and hair color the same. His unmarked face was covered with a full beard, his dark brown mane long and unruly. But Dorian would recognize those lapis eyes anywhere, and with awed curiosity, he brushed aside the dangling tendrils of Aeric's hair.

Aeric's ears were rounded.

" _Fasta vass_ ," Dorian breathed. "Aeric, you're _human_!"

Wordlessly, Aeric's face crumpled, his eyes pinching, his brow knitting in obvious distress. Dorian pulled him into his arms, stunned, but just so relieved that Aeric was actually there and _real_ that it didn't matter what changes there were. That Aeric merely existed in this world was blessing enough.

But there were no words that could make it better, too much going on to even comprehend the idea that they might not even be who they thought they were. Onward, then. Before anything else, onward and outward.

There were other pods in the room just past Aeric. Other friends trapped in that fake world, not knowing they were prisoners. His heart aching again, Dorian pulled at Aeric. "Let's go." His voice was still quiet, but steadier now after the water earlier.

With a nod, Aeric indicated the door to the corridor. Holding each other as much for comfort as for support, they stumbled together through the halls. As they ascended higher through the vault, a message appeared on the screens nearby. "This way," Cole wrote, the words appearing on one screen after another, guiding them. "There are weapons and bottles of water by the vault door. Hurry."

The lights overhead had stopped spinning, the distant sirens calming to an eerie quiet. "I think… I think he's fixed it," Aeric murmured hoarsely. Dorian felt a thrill of fear as they picked up their pace, even as another wave of relief rushed over him at the sound of Aeric's familiar, rumbling voice. Still his _amatus_ , no matter how haggard and different they both were.

Cole's messages - _This way, this way_ \- stopped before a doorway in a small alcove just at the top of a set of stairs. They forced open the door, leading to a multi-level room shut with a hatch that looked like an enormous gear. The door had the numbers '58' written in large letters, the same as the bright yellow numbers on their identical jumpsuits. Shutting the door behind them, Dorian and Aeric released each other, searching the strange room for the weapons and water Cole had promised.

"How do we get out?" Aeric asked, his voice a gravelly whisper.

Dorian looked around and spotted a control panel at the edge of the upper landing. "There," he said, pointing. He didn't know how he knew, but he was almost certain that that was how they would open the giant hatch. As Aeric continued to search the lockers lining the room, Dorian staggered to the panel. The commands on the screen looked strange and foreign to him, asking for passwords and codes. "Cole? What do I do?"

There was no answer from the spirit - or whatever he actually was in this world - but as Dorian stared at the screen blankly, his hands moved across the keyboard, still sluggish, but with the kind of memory that only long-practiced muscles retained.

"How's it going over here?" Aeric limped over to him, a dagger dangling from his belt loop. He had two large plastic bottles of water held in one arm, the words 'Aqua Pura' emblazoned on a label around each of them. In the other hand, he awkwardly held two small metal contraptions, each with a handle and a trigger.

"Fine, almost through," Dorian muttered. "I think. What are those?" He indicated the metal contraptions in Aeric's hand with a pointed look.

"Guns," Aeric said matter-of-factly, but frowned. "They're weapons. Don't ask me how I know. Figure a way out?"

Dorian scowled. "I've no idea. I evidently know how to use this confounded machine, but this last barrier is giving me trouble. It needs the Overseer's password, and I don't have a way to get around it. Who, or what, is the Overseer?"

"That would be me."

Dorian and Aeric spun around, not having heard a third person enter the room behind them. Standing before them, in a blue and yellow jumpsuit much like theirs, was Solas. He was bald, exactly as he was in Thedas, and exhibited a calm and easy grace, his hands held comfortably behind his back. Unlike in Thedas, however, he wore wire-framed spectacles, held by ears that - like Aeric's - were rounded instead of long and pointed. "I suspect you have questions," Solas said, his face expressionless.

A snarl appeared on Dorian's face at the sight of him. "As if we could trust a word you say," he spat, his voice shaking with the effort of raising it. "To think we once called you 'friend'."

Aeric raised one of the guns, pointing it at Solas' head. "You imprisoned us here," he growled. "Right now, I don't want to know why or how. I want out. Let us free and I might not shoot you where you stand."

"Enclave soldiers have been dispatched already," Solas said smoothly. "The name of my employers may mean nothing to you now. Just know that they are military, and swift and fierce in action. I can hardly stop you from killing me now, unarmed as I am. But without a word from me, they will not hesitate to kill you both, as well as the others from the simulation."

"You would let them all die?" Dorian asked, glaring.

Solas gave a tiny shrug. "I will have allowed nothing. I will be dead by your hand." His eyes softened behind his spectacles. "Return to the simulation chambers. This world - the real one, I'm afraid - is a terrible one. The troubles you face in Thedas are far kinder than anything you might experience outside of this vault. Corypheus and demons are nothing, compared to the irradiated monsters this world has wrought, or the people driven mad by life in the Wasteland. You think to survive out there with only a bit of water and two small firearms?"

"We'll take our chances," Aeric said, his finger resting on the trigger now.

Solas looked at both of them in turn, his gaze more resigned than resolute. After a moment, he regarded Dorian. "The code to override the lock on the vault is SF14-5709." He turned his attention back to Aeric. "But this is a mistake. You will not survive the week. And even if you did, I would not call you fortunate, my friends."

Dorian entered the code. A warning horn sounded overhead as a large piston came down, unwinding the gear-shaped hatch until it began to roll open.

"We're not your friends," Aeric declared through clenched teeth. Leaning on each other for support, Dorian and Aeric edged toward the opening door. "And we will be back for the others."

"I highly doubt it," Solas said, his voice strange and sad. "But do try to prove me wrong."

Dorian and Aeric backed away, lights and sirens blaring around them, towards the blinding sunlight beyond the giant door. As they stepped over the threshold together, Dorian felt an almost overwhelming terror. This wasn't like leaving home, leaving Tevinter to fight for a good cause in the South. This wasn't like escaping from the house-arrest imposed by his father, narrowly avoiding being changed for propriety's sake. What lay ahead for them… would they even recognize it as a life worth living?

The vault door creaked and whined as it began to shut behind them, sealing away Solas from view. Sealing away their friends, and Thedas. Their eyes watering after Maker knew how long they had been underground, they found themselves in the middle of a brown, desolate plain, no hint of civilization in sight. The hiss and chitter of some far off creature spurred them to movement, stumbling together as quickly as they could. If soldiers did descend on the place, Dorian and Aeric wanted to be as far as possible from it.

For now, Dorian could not even contemplate the magnitude of what they had lost and left behind. Better to focus on each faltering step, on surviving with nothing but 'a bit of water and two small firearms'. But as they crossed the foreign plains, Aeric clutched at Dorian's shoulders as much as Dorian clung to his. The elf - no, not an elf… not here. The other man, his _amatus_ still, was at least beside him. The battles they waged in Thedas might not have been real, but the will to face them - Aeric and Dorian's both - _that_ was real. The fear lingering in his belly was like a tether to the vault behind him, making his feet itch to turn back the way they came. That fear was no less. But he knew they had the will to face what came, together. They could be hope for each other.

And that hope. That hope never changes.


End file.
